Ok, Simon Baker is just delicious and he is reason enough to watch The Guardian, but the show definitely has more going for it than just a pretty face. Baker plays Nick Fallin, a hotshot corporate lawyer who has fallen from grace by enjoying illegal substances and getting caught. Because of his father, Burton Falllin's (Dabney Coleman) connections, he gets probation and a hefty serving of community service instead of jail time. You'd think he'd be happy, but instead, he is pissed to have to work at Children's Legal Services of Pittsburg, because it's a dump and he prefers his clients to wear expensive suits instead of dirty faces and sullen frowns. When Nick reports for duty, he immediately rubs the director, Alvin Masterson (Alan Rosenberg), the wrong way with his smug attitude. But over the season, Nick grows a heart and learns about the human element of practicing law, all while juggling his blossoming new career as a children's advocate with his high-powered job at Fallin & Associates.

Nick encounters cases of neglect, abuse, murder, teen parents, mentally-challenged children and even a kidnapped child and each of these cases is always interspersed with cases that are happening in Nick's corporate life as well. While this gave some variety to the show, I almost wished they had focused strictly on the kids' cases because I found these more interesting. However, as the season develops, some new blood is brought into Children's Legal Services (which later loses its funding and becomes simply Legal Services of Pittsburgh) in the form of Lulu Archer (Wendy Moniz), who also becomes a love interest for Nick. Other regular cast members include Social Services worker Laurie Solt (Kathleen Chalfant), fellow attorney at Legal Services James Mooney (Charles Malik Whitfield), fellow attorney at Fallin & Associates Jake Straka (Raphael Sbarge), plucky Legal Services secretary Barbara Ludzinski (Rusty Schwimmer) and ass-kissing political crony Mitchell Lichtman (Evan Handler of Lost and Californication fame).

The episodes are definitely not of the one-off variety, so you have to keep up with them as characters appear and re-appear throughout the season. Nick goes through a lot including almost getting sucked back into drugs, nearly losing his life on the other end of a loaded gun, having his future in his father's law firm sucked out from under him and even having a drug-addicted stripper harass him and lose consciousness at his home, all while his father is trying to become a federal judge. While I wasn't initially sold on the show, the longer you watch, the more engaging it becomes. I'll admit to being a bit bored with the storyline of James Mooney getting custody of his hoodlum nephew, Levi, and the problems that ensue, but overall, for a first season, The Guardian: The First Season is actually pretty good. Special features are limited to a handful of CBS promo ads for the show, but the acting is solid and if you like legal dramas, you could do worse than The Guardian. I don't know if it's one you'd want to buy since there's not a ton of replay value, but it would make a good rental.